The wait continues.
A multi-hour long meeting on Sunday filled with presentations from various subcommittees to the Big Ten's Council of Presidents and Chancellors came and went with no vote on when to begin the conference's football season, per various reports.
David Jesse of the Detroit Free Press first reported the lack of a vote, and ESPN's Adam Rittenberg and The Athletic's Nicole Auerbach confirmed it.
Discussions are expected to continue, Rittenberg reported, and a vote will likely come later this week, per Jesse.
Sunday's meeting featured a "comprehensive plan" put forth to the Big Ten's presidents and chancellors that included "an emphasis on medical protocols," per Yahoo's Pete Thamel who noted there was "a lot of optimism" about starting a season this fall. As part of the presentation, they were shown at least four rapid coronavirus test options that weren't available for use when they voted 11-3 to postpone the season in August, ESPN reported.
In order for Sunday's meeting to happen, the Big Ten Return to Competition Task Force's medical committee – which features co-chair James Borchers, Ohio State's head team physician – presented a plan to the steering committee, which comprises of eight presidents and chancellors including Ohio State's Kristina Johnson. Once that happened successfully, Sunday's meeting was called and, per Thamel, a vote was expected within 72 hours.
The Big Ten's scheduling committee (which includes Ohio State coach Ryan Day) and television committee (which includes OSU athletic director Gene Smith) also presented to the conference's 14 presidents and chancellors on Sunday, and Fox Sports' Bruce Feldman reported that all three presentations went well.
SOURCE: All of the three Big Ten presentations--medical, scheduling and TV--went well today and there is a lot of optimism inside the conference from this weekend. (There was not a vote planned for today.)
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) September 13, 2020
While there was not vote on Sunday, the hope is it will happen on Monday or Tuesday.
The hope from Ohio State is that a season can begin by the middle of next month. Ryan Day put out a statement on Thursday to call for a mid-October start to the season since the Big Ten's medical subcommittee “has done an excellent job of creating a safe pathway toward returning to play in mid-October.” He reiterated his hope to start the season by the middle of October on Saturday's College GameDay show on ESPN, which is important because it is the latest the conference can start play for its teams to have a chance to earn a College Football Playoff berth.
Justin Fields, also hopeful for a fall season, reignited his #WeWantToPlay push via Twitter on Sunday morning.
